Nothing is more cathartic than watching the sunset after a long day, especially when you’re with someone you love. The oranges, pinks, purples, and yellows paint the sky as the sun slowly dips below the horizon and the moon comes up. The fluffy clouds match the various hues as they float aimlessly through the sky. When you’re with your partner, few things are more romantic.
Hip-hop and R&B have an abundance of gorgeous records that match the beauty and euphoria of a great sunset. Both genres can capture the bliss and warmth that come with such a luscious color palette. Consequently, in the spirit of winter coming to a close, Noisey has selected four rap and R&B songs to play during golden hour, with the love of your life or just enjoying the peace and quiet to yourself.
4 Beautiful Hip-Hop and R&B Songs To Play While Watching the Sunset With Your Partner
‘Run To The Sun’ by N.E.R.D.
Experiencing golden hour is like an escapist dream. For a brief moment in time, nothing else matters but the colors in the sky. Once night comes, maybe the realities of life will set in. But a beautiful sunset makes you dream of a better tomorrow.
“Run To The Sun” distills this feeling beautifully, where Pharrell grapples with regret over a failed relationship. But instead of reaching acceptance, he unabashedly yearns and expresses his love, wishing that they could run away from it all. Proclaiming his love is a last-ditch effort, sure, but the way he coos over the sweet chords makes it sound so romantic.
‘Selfish’ by Slum Village
There’s tremendous warmth coming out of Slum Village’s “Selfish”. Sampling Aretha Franklin’s classic “Call Me“, Kanye West doesn’t reinvent the wheel in flipping it. But when a record is that warm and cozy, why tamper with it much at all? The final product glows in oranges and reds, a gorgeous sunset and a warm hug from the person you love most.
‘The Light’ by Common
A love song has always been the ideal song when the sun starts to fall. That fuzzy feeling you get in your stomach when you’re in love is actualized in the colors and vibe of a sunset. “The Light” is arguably the quintessential hip-hop love song, devoted to his girlfriend at the time Erykah Badu. J Dilla takes the Bobby Caldwell “Open Your Eyes” and flips it into a beaming ode to wholehearted romance. What better way to celebrate said romance than basking in the golden hour?
‘Kiss Of Life’ by Sade
Few people capture the euphoria of love quite like Sade Adu. She sings about it as an eternal force that binds two people together. It’s achingly sweet and romantic and “Kiss of Life” is arguably the purest form of that expression. She ruminates that only something truly spiritual could’ve paired them together, some cosmic fate that brought them together.
Regardless, the sky is the “color of love,” the gorgeous light pinks you could only get from a perfect sunset. It can only shine that bright because that perfect person gave Sade the kiss of life. Over delicate chords and a swooning saxophone, no record pairs the spiritual sense of love and pairs it with the beauty this life can be capable of.
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